Facebook Hacked: Hundreds of Thousands of User Data for Sale on the Dark Web

Researchers have discovered 100,000 lines of sensitive Facebook user data for sale on the Dark Web, raising fears of another major leak. What are the risks, and how can you protect yourself?

Facebook is a veritable gold mine for both hackers and companies, as the social network is overflowing with personal and often very private information about its users. Telephone numbers, email addresses, sometimes compromising images and comments, political inclinations... There is so much information that attracts greed.

The problem is that social networks are regularly the victims of theft. Until recently, more than 360 million hacked handles were posted on Telegram, some of which belonged to Facebook accounts. And once again, Facebook finds itself in the spotlight for a security problem.

According to a report by CyberPeace Research, some 100,000 lines of data from users of the social network have appeared on a forum dedicated to hacking, where they are offered for sale. This data includes full names, email addresses, phone numbers, and locations.

Compared to the 3 billion users Facebook is projected to have worldwide in 2024, the leak may seem minimal, but it should not be taken lightly! It could lead to phishing attacks and other malicious activities, such as identity theft, targeting affected individuals. The exact circumstances of this leak are still unknown, and Meta has declined to provide further information at this time. This is not the first time that Facebook has suffered a major data breach. In April 2021, the personal information of some 530 million users was made public on an online hacking forum. This data had been acquired in 2019 by hackers who had exploited a vulnerability in the social network's contact import tool.

The alleged Facebook data breach highlights the continuing challenges posed by cyber threats in the digital space. Therefore, we recommend that you activate two-factor authentication on your account and remain alert for possible phishing attempts. If you ever receive an email or text message that seems suspicious, do not hesitate to use verification tools that are capable of analyzing received communications and detecting fraud attempts.